Keshi
by Madelen
Summary: Their party meets once again after the others had left for Northrend - and Keshi likes what she sees and what she doesn't . Not sure about the rating, so I try to be on the safe side.


I know, there are no character names in this. It's difficult to invent new ones from existing chars ... The world this is playing in doesn't belong to me, but Keshi does. Thanks to Sepultros for betaing (and lending me his warlock as well). Thanks to the support he and Dryadris gave me this is the very first story I didn't keep all to myself.

_Keshi_

When she arrived at the meeting point, the others were already standing and sitting around a small fireplace. The faces turned towards her, expectingly, and when they saw it really was her, they all waved and greeted her. And then one rather impressing figure came running towards her, knocked her over and licked her face with a rough tongue.

She laughed and cuddled the druid who was in his bear form and obviously in a playful mood, too. Some others were laughing as well when they saw the two of them fooling around like children. She reminded herself: The other one still **was** a child. He had had to grow up quickly after the war had begun, but he still loved to play – and she was the one who always let him and always joined in.

Eventually, they sat down at the fire, the boy still panting, she in her usual distinguished way – even though she **was** exhausted from the tease fight. Still, neither the Tauren warrior nor the Blood elf paladin could let pass that perfect occasion of teasing her.

"If I turned into a bear, would you let me top you, too?", the Tauren asked.

And the Blood elf continued: "Couldn't you rather be mud catching with another woman?"

"With less clothing, you mean?", she asked back. "I'd much better like the two of **you** doing that kind of stuff with each other and **much** less clothing.", she continued, pointing at the two of them, which stilled them immediately – she even thought to see a hint of a blush occur on the paladins' cheeks.

Then she looked at the party members more closely, and the sight simply caught her breath. Even in the dim firelight, she could see the obvious changes. They had all travelled to Northrend and it definitely showed. Their clothes were of finer material than hers – surely she did not look too well-off at their sides – their bodies had been strengthened by the harsh climate and, certainly, uncounted fights. It really was an amazing sight.

The Tauren warriors' body was more shaped than it had been, if ever that was possible. The Blood elf paladin moved with even more grace. During the little tease fight, she had already won the impression that the druid too had grown stronger, and hadn't his fur grown as well? Due to the cold northern air she thought it quite possible. The only other female, a Blood elf rogue, sat perfectly still by the fire, so still she was sure most people wouldn't have noticed her, even without her being in stealth mode.

But when her eyes finally met the warlocks', her heart seemed to stand still. She had already seen one of her blood brothers, a shadow priest Troll, come back from Northrend, and **that** had been amazing. But the Undead before her obviously radiated with shadow magic so strong she seemed able to touch it.

Suddenly, she felt the strong desire to transform to her demon form and make him control her. He would now certainly be able to control her demon, his shadow magic would slowly consume her heart and bind her into her demon form, and to him. But she didn't care, for it was exactly what she had always dreamt of. Nonetheless, she suppressed the strong feeling. She knew they would be more powerful than **anyone** in Azeroth – for a short time. Eventually, the shadow magic would consume both of them, bodies and souls, and leave nothing behind but some haunted ghosts.

She must have been staring at them for the warrior teased her again: "Obviously you like what you see here." She looked at him, them looked around, only to meet the warlocks' eyes again. "I very much like what I see here,", she replied. "But I have to admit, what I don't see even more so.

o.o.o.o.o

All of this, the meeting itself, the place they had chosen and even the time – shortly after sunset – felt like coming home again. And they had welcomed her in their middle as if she had never been gone. Still, coming home was exactly what this was **not** all about.

She had to tell them there was a reason for her not to go to Northrend with the party. She had to tell them that now, she would perhaps never be going. Sooner or later she would even be "out of sight, out of mind" to them. But for now, she just wanted to savour the last hours with them. Absent-mindedly, she turned to hug and cuddle the bear at her side again. After all, she had been missing him and he was like a little brother to her. The druid took the hint and, after having turned into his cat form, he started to purr under the soft strokes she gave his fur.

She also looked forward to the discussion she would later on have with the other warlock. As usual, he would want to tell her about the new and certainly mighty casts he had learned in Dalaran. But this time, she would not be able to keep up with his powers, so perhaps, they would not be discussing theory all night long...

Before she got entirely lost in thoughts, she turned to the party and, as usual, was the first to speak – even if she wasn't their leader, and not even a real party member any more. "You all know why we have gathered here: To discuss some of the actual horde politics, as usual, and so you can give me a report on your journey to the north. But before we come to this, I'll have to tell you something..."

She looked around at their faces. They didn't want to admit it, but they already knew. And finally, all of them said it at the same moment:

"You're leaving us.", the rogue stated.

"You won't be leaving us, would you?", the warrior said.

"Why are you leaving now?", the paladin asked.

"No, you can't be leaving. I won't let you go!", the druid exclaimed.

And nearly inaudible with all the question marks and exclamation points in the air, a small voice spoke in a foreign language that only trained ears understood and few others recognized.

"If you can't stand them any more," the voice said, using the secret warlock language the demon language had become a long time ago, "at least stay with me..."

While the others still exclaimed their disbelief and frustration, she answered the warlocks' request first: "I will..." – which none of the others even heard, except for the rogue perhaps, but, as she knew that using a secret language meant they wanted to keep it in private, she didn't show.

Then she turned towards the others again: "You know we can keep in touch. You know as well as I do that you can visit me any time you want to. But I've got an offer I cannot turn down – even if I wanted to. Even if it means I cannot train my fighting skills any more, or visit Northrend any time soon. Even if it means I have to quit the party.. Perhaps you heard about the warlock incident in Orgrimmar a fortnight ago?"

They shook their heads, but the Undead replied: "Yes I did. The master warlock in Dalaran told me when I went to learn some new spells. But all I know is the demon master in Orgrimmar was killed while trying to summon some demon."

"Yes, that's the official version, quite a neutral description of the incident.", she said, a single frown showing between her eyes. It surely made her look older, but more attractive, too.

"You have been there when whatever it was happened?", the rogue asked in concern.

"Yes, I was. And it was no fun to watch, I can tell you that much."

"What happened?", the druid asked, being curious and trying not to show how frightened he was at the same time.

"The demon master simply overrated his powers – I still think he was driven mad or corrupted or something – and tried to summon one of the annihilan in the cleft of shadow "

"A pit lord. In Orgrimmar!", the Undead exclaimed at her words.

"Exactly. It could have been a rightful disaster if he had succeeded. You all remember how powerful Lord Hel'nurath was, the demon we fought at Dire Maul?"

"You mean the one we had to fight when we got you those demon horses?" the paladin asked.

"The dreadsteed, yes."

"But we've grown much more powerful since then. We have even defeated Malchezaar, we could vanquish Kil'jaeden by now.", the warrior replied.

"Only that the warlocks in Orgrimmar are not trained to fight demons, but to control them. It quite makes a difference.", the Undead stated. "And don't overestimate your own strength! I doubt we **really** could defeat Kil'jaeden..."

She now definitely needed a drink before she could continue, so when the others spoke, she had reached into her backpack, took out a bottle, opened it, took a gulp of the burning liquid and passed it around. Each of the others cheered at her before drinking. When she got it back, she closed it to put it safely at her side, then continued to talk:

"Usually, you'd need at least five powerful demon masters to summon such a demon and keep it under control afterwards. If someone really **is** powerful enough to summon them on his or her own, they still wouldn't be able to control him afterwards. Nonetheless, the demon master tried – and luckily enough for the horde, he failed. But before the shadow magic started to consume him, that is before he started to scream ... and he screamed for quite a long time ... even after having died, he continued screaming ... before the shadow magic filled his soul, he had already opened a portal to the Twisting Nether. And that portal had to be closed as quickly as possible. But there weren't enough master warlocks left, you know..."

"One in each point of the pentagram to close the portal again.", the Undead murmured. "And they had been five together with the demon master."

"Exactly... You know, I had been on my way to the **barber shop** when it happened. It was mere luck..."

"Fate.", the rogue murmured under her breath.

"... that I heard the screams and then the other warlocks calling out for a well-trained warlock to help them. **Right now.**"

She paused to take another gulp of her bottle, passed it to the warrior and continued: "They heard it all over Orgrimmar, and if they really didn't hear the call, they could not help but hear the screams. Well, as it was, I arrived in time, made the circle whole and helped them close the portal. And – except for Thrall who was more furious than I had ever seen him when he learned what had happened – not one single other person showed up until the screams had ended. There wasn't **one single** well-trained warlock in all of Orgrimmar except the four remaining masters and **me** ... everybody else had obviously followed the call to go fight the Lich King in his own territory."

"So you're going to stay in Orgrimmar to make the number whole again?", the paladin asked.

"That's right. Well, Thrall made me take the position ..."

"As the new demon master.", the Undead stated.

"No." She violently shook her head. "I would not have taken this task if Thrall had asked me personally. I'll merely be one of Orgrimmars' warlock masters, being a demon master is reserved to the least corrupted."

"You're certainly too wicked then, big sis'.", the druid said with an open-hearted smile on his lips.

She couldn't help but smile at that comment herself. "I take that as a compliment."

But then she was getting serious again. "Please keep everything I told you to yourselves. There are only few people who know the entire truth. But I think I can trust you – as my friends."

"Of course, you can.", the warrior replied for the party.

"You know, you're sharing a secret with Thrall himself now.", she said and smiled. "But now, let's turn to something more pleasant: Tell me **everything** about the northern continent."

o.o.o.o.o

After they had talked for hours, emptied not only her bottle of whiskey, but also two bottles of some northern drink the warrior had brought along, the druid had dozed off at her side. All of a sudden, the others seemed to be sleepy – or drunk, in the paladins' case – as well. And only the warlock shook his head when she asked the party if they should go to sleep. Yet, she wasn't tired at all, the report of Northrend had been so amazing, and the alcohol had only made her over-excited, as usual.

The rogue woke the druid and moved him into a more comfortable position before choosing a place to lie down for herself, while the warrior helped the paladin to lay down. Unfortunately, she had no reason to get up yet, which meant no reason to sit down at the Undeads' side afterwards. So she stayed where she was sitting, staring into the fire, avoiding to look over it and into the warlocks' eyes. Still, there was far too much space between them, at least in her opinion. 'I'll walk over to him when the others are sleeping...', she decided. But obviously, the other wasn't that patient as he rose, stretched out his arms, which made every single joint in his body crack, and walked around the fireplace to sit down at her side.

"I don't remember you being shy.", he whispered, following her eyes, watching the flames eagerly devour the firewood.

"It's not that I'm shy.", she replied. "Only I don't feel too well about these goodbyes. Everybody will have forgotten me in no time at all."

"You know that's not true..."

For some time, they sat by the fire in silence, but it wasn't awkward as she had feared. She didn't see the wicked little smile that showed in the other warlocks' eyes after a while, but when he started to talk again, she heard it in his voice.

"You know, I wanted to show you some of the new spells I learned in Dalaran. And you as a future master warlock should be well-trained, no matter if you'll be fighting any more. So I thought: What about a little duel?"

She turned her head to look at him only to be astounded by what she saw in his eyes: This wasn't about teasing her or about defeating a future master warlock, at least not entirely. There was some other feeling showing in his eyes, something like... lust. Did he really have the same thoughts of a fight as an adventure, of the erotic kind that is? Was it his reason of rarely duel other people just for fun, exactly as it was hers? She felt her head spinning a little, and she was sure it wasn't the alcohol.

"Yes.", she whispered in a hoarse voice, nearly incapable of talking. "Let's duel."

She looked forward to seeing him cast the new spells, even if it meant she would be down in no time at all. But then again, she would at least have the time to show him that she still **could** fight and still **was** powerful enough to do some damage.

They stood up and moved some feet away from the fireplace and the four figures laying around it, now fast asleep. When they had brought enough space between them and the others to not wake them up, the Undead positioned himself, expecting her to move first. As she knew it would be her only chance to hit him at all, she **did** move first. But obviously surprised him by what she did. She transformed into her demon form, was at his side and able to hit him hard before he could react.

And then he cast the enslave demon spell. Not the most powerful he knew, she was sure about that when it only lasted an instant. But those two or three seconds it had lasted sufficed to connect their souls. She was sure he had know about this side effect and had intentionally used it by casting the spell – as she had intentionally made him bind her when she had turned into the demon.

Both of them saw the others' thoughts and feelings so clearly, they couldn't help but feel intoxicated by the fight once they continued after she had eventually broken free. It seemed to last for ages, so when he had finally won, he knees were shaking and she felt incredibly weak, so exhausted was she of those very intense minutes.

He looked at her, concern beginning to show in his eyes, asked "Okay?", and when she nodded, he led her to the fireplace, gently forced her to sit down, gave her some healing potion to drink, then applied some bandages on her forearms with his long cold fingers. She shivered ever so slightly when his fingers touched her skin, but he didn't move away, she didn't have to explain it was pure delight that made her shiver under his touch. She knew she didn't have to explain anything any more.

It still felt a little unreal, but the bound definitely lasted. It would last no matter how far away he was – and she was relieved he was undead and therefore very unlikely to die. As she knew everything there was to know about this kind of spells – she had admitted to herself to be a romantic fool a long time ago, and after all, that **was** the most romantic interaction of warlock spells she knew of – she would be very unlikely to die as well now.

"You know what we've been doing during the fight, don't you?", he asked quietly. "Are you sure you wanted this? Being bound to an undead for eternity?"

"Do you really think I would have transformed if I didn't know what I was doing?"

"No, I don't. I just wanted to be sure. Because, you know, we still have time to undo it."

"Until sunrise. But I'm quite fine with the situation as it is. I even imagined..."

"I know, but that would have killed us both. Although being more powerful than Arthas himself **is** a tempting thought, staying alive together is a much better option in my eyes."

"So you don't want to undo it either."

A wicked little smile showed in his eyes: "I'd rather enforce it a little, make sure it really lasts..."

Both of them knew there was no need to enforce that kind of bond. But then again, it was a **soul** bond only and it would not hurt to extend it a little towards something more interesting for their bodies. She smiled, showing her fangs by doing so: "I'm glad I won't be ripping apart your lips with those."

"Rather hard to rip apart something that already is in pieces.", the warlock managed to reply before he was stilled by a longing kiss which seemed to be question and promise in one. And he returned it, giving the same promise – this bond would last as long as their souls did.


End file.
